


Jar of Flies

by kumjongin



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: 90's Music, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 11:34:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14568171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kumjongin/pseuds/kumjongin
Summary: Jongin is perfectly happy wearing his wrinkled flannel and listening to grunge music in his friend’s basement, at least until the beautiful new student named Sehun arrives and makes him question everything.





	Jar of Flies

**Author's Note:**

> Ticket No. 512  
> Warnings: underage sex (both are in high school), outcasts  
> Pairing: Jongin/Sehun  
> Time Period: 1990s

Jongin’s eyes slipped closed as he settled into the beaten up old couch, a familiar musty smell of the basement surrounding him. Music resounded from the speakers, the crooning, crunchy sound of Alice in Chains filling him with a sense of contentment. “This is all I need, dude,” Jongin groaned.

Chanyeol’s parents worked late most of the time, and even when his mom was home she left Chanyeol to his own devices in the basement, so most afternoons after school he’d end up lounging on the beaten up couch listening to CDs until he had to leave. He and Chanyeol had found each other through their shared love of grunge and punk music, something that most of the school didn’t seem to share. But Jongin didn’t care, he didn’t need popular approval by the bogus posers in his school.

Chanyeol let out a loud laugh, the sound of shuffling CDs could be heart next to where Jongin knew the stereo to be. “This day was fucking wack,” Chanyeol agreed.

“One of these days we should start a band. All the local bands suck around here.” It was something he’d said plenty of times in the past, and it was far from the last time he’d express the same thought. They lived in a dull little suburb, a couple of hours away from the nearest city and the nearest decent record store. While there were a number of bands started throughout their school - and a couple from the community college - most of them were trying to be the next U2 or Boys II Men instead of wanting to make music that actually said something.

“We could be the next Nirvana,” Chanyeol snorted.

His gaze cracked open, watching as his friend tossed a hackey sack in the air. “You can play guitar, I’ll be...I guess I’ll be the singer.”

“You can’t sing.”

“Neither can Kurt Cobain. It’s all about the attitude,” he argued.

“Maybe. Let’s get blazed.”

—

Jongin slouched down in his desk, mindlessly doodling in the margins of his notebook as he waited for the teacher to arrive. Chanyeol wasn’t in that class, unfortunately, so Jongin remained silent in the back of the class, ignoring the few scoffs and eye rolls in his direction. He was used to it.

The school was filled with people who all looked the same, with the same colorful shirts and overly denimed selves that all listened to the same music and wanted to just hang out at the mall. They were lame and didn’t ever seem to own an air of individuality - they matched the cookie cutter houses they all lived grew up in. 

Mostly, Jongin avoided the gaze of anyone in the class, they weren’t worth the effort and potential argument. However, when his peripheral vision caught sight of the teacher with an unfamiliar figure. His gaze lifted, staring into the face of someone he would have definitely remembered if he’d been around before. “Students,” the teacher announced, calling the attention of the class just as the bell rang.

Conversations faded and tittered around them as attention was brought to the front of the room. “We have a new student with us, just in from the city. Would you like to introduce yourself?”

The student looked bored, and his lips pressed into a thin line for a brief moment. “I’m Sehun,” he said, and his silence gave way that he didn’t exactly plan on giving more information about himself.

The teacher looked vaguely perplexed. “And...would you care to say something about yourself?”he asked, head tilting slightly in curiosity.

Sehun, as Jongin now knew his name to be, shrugged a shoulder. “Not really.”

There were a few huffs of amusement around the room. Jongin hummed to himself softly. He could already lay a guess that other people in the school would be demanding of the new student’s attention. He was attractive, and his clothes looked fashionable, from the glimpses Jongin knew. But even so, he could feel a distinct wave of attraction to him. Maybe it was helped by the snide bitterness in his tone.

But Jongin knew that he shouldn’t rush into liking him. After all, Sehun looked the type to easily fit in with the popular crowd, to be one of the mainstream kids who had everything bought for them and lived to watch MTV for the pop music. So he wasn’t placing too much in the fact that he seemed attractive. They likely wouldn’t have much interaction anyway.

—

When Jongin was ushered into the principal’s office, he couldn’t resist rolling his eyes before he stepped in. It wasn’t anywhere near the first time he’d been ushered in. In theory, they all were at some point, given that it was natural in the high school life to have a conversation about ‘the future.’ Which Jongin thought was all a bunch of bullshit. Not the future, in and of itself, but the simple act of the staff member pretending to care was all just ridiculous and unnecessary. 

Plus, he had a suspicion that his call to the counselor was less to do with his actual future and more to do with the fact that people thought he was weird. Which suited him fine, he didn’t care if people thought that of him or not. So he slouched into the office, flopping onto the chair and folding his arms over his chest. It was the quintessential appearance of the apathetic teen, which he was fine with fitting right into. 

“So...how have things been?” the counselor asked, a smile coming to his face as he leaned in, as though he was so interested in Jongin’s answer.

He sighed. “Been fine. Same as usual. You?” he asked. 

“Ah...fine, just fine as well. So...have you considered your future a bit more?” he asked. 

They’d had this conversation before. If Jongin recalled correctly, they’d had this conversation at least a dozen times. “Since a few months ago? Not really.”

“Jongin, come on, don’t behave that way. You are a smart kid, you have a lot of potential for your future, and I’m just trying to help you to see and achieve that. And giving you the tools you need in order to get there, you know?” he asked, head tilting slightly.

“No, you just care that you look good talking to the ‘troubled’ kid,” he argued. Which was probably going to land him in detention, but he didn’t really care. After all, he was the apathetic teen.

The counselor sighed quietly, steepling his hands before him. “I’m not trying to pressure you, and I’m not labelling you, I’m just here to ask you a few questions. I do this with all the students,” he reminded him.

Jongin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “No, you don’t. Sorry, but I call that bogus. I know people who come in here...maybe once a year. Yet I’m always in here for some conversation about my future that never changes. Nothing is different now than it was last time, you just keep calling me in here because you want to pretend you’re concerned.” He could feel himself slipping deeper down a hole of foot in mouth syndrome, but that didn’t seem to stop him from the anger and annoyance he held toward the man.

“Jongin. I don’t understand where all this aggression is coming from. I’m trying to help you. Did you ever consider that some of those students who come in here less often is because they already have an idea of what they’d like to do, and they know what they plan to do for the future. You have none, and have never given me anything to work with. And yes, I will admit that there are many teachers who come to me concerned about you, they don’t understand...some of your behavior,” he explained, still with that patient look.

He wondered idly what it would take to push him past that point of gentility. What it would mean for him to actually bust through that false facade and break it open to reveal something else underneath. He couldn’t prove anything else was there, but it was a feeling that there was so much tension lingering underneath his surface. “Maybe that is the case. But maybe I just want to be left alone, maybe I don’t need to be helped and told what to do,” he said, arms still folded in his defiance. His jaw was set, annoyance and impatience showing clearly.

“Jongin. That’s fine. But this is my job, to make sure you are going to be okay. Just help me a little bit, tell me what you plan to do when you graduate. Any plan at all would be better than the answers you’ve given me,” he said.

Jongin sighed, leaning his head back until it tipped into the chair. He didn’t want this conversation. He didn’t want to talk about anything with this man who didn’t care, didn’t want to talk to anyone who didn’t understand. And none of them did, so it seemed. “Fine. I just want to get out of here. I don’t want to be stuck in this sad little suburb for the rest of my life, I don’t want to sit around and be judged by everyone just because I’m a little different,” he argued. It went much deeper than his appearance, none of them knew he was gay either. If they did, the levels of teasing and torment would be even worse than they were just because he wore some eyeliner. But he never planned on letting that out, even though he’d heard plenty of insults and slurs directed toward him insinuating it.

“I get that. Really, I know you’re sitting there thinking I’m just trying to appease you or trying to just get inside your head for some reason. I’m not trying to cause you any harm, Jongin, I’m trying to help you. And I do understand that people give you a hard time. I understand why you would want to get out of here, and I’m here to help support that. My question is how? Do you plan to apply for colleges out of state?” 

His jaw clenched slightly. He wasn’t used to someone even claiming to understand him, even though he still doubted the sincerity. It wasn’t that he had some hard fast hatred of the guidance counselor - he didn’t like him, but he wasn’t public enemy number one or anything - it was more that he didn’t trust anyone. He’d been lied to and deceived and judged too many times for that to happen. “Fine, I’ll try to accept that. I still think you’re just making excuses, but fine. I’m tired of coming in here all the time. Yeah, I guess I plan to go to college somewhere else. I don’t even know if I want to go out of state, I just need to go somewhere that isn’t here. Somewhere that isn’t the middle of nowhere. So, yeah, I guess college would be the...best way to do that,” he shrugged.

“You don’t seem convinced. Are you considering not going to college? What would you do instead?”

Jongin snorted. “Well, you’ll think I’m an idiot, but I want to start a band. I know, I know, that’s not a safe choice, we’ll never make it, blah blah, fine. But that’s what I’ve thought about,” he admitted. He didn’t often actually say that to many people, though some of them sort of guessed. At least other than Chanyeol, he knew about those aspirations even when Jongin just made some jokes about it.

“A band...well, Jongin, you’re right that it isn’t the safest or most sensible option. But do you have a passion for music?” he asked, head tilting as he wrote down a few words into his file. It was probably the first time in a long time that he’d even had anything to write down for him.

He already regretted it, regretted this conversation. “I guess. I mean...music is what gets me, you know? Nobody understands, but I can always turn on a CD and they just suddenly get it. So yeah, music is really all I have sometimes. I can’t play anything...so there’s that,” he said, already seeing the questions that were burning to pop up for him about the whole thing. Even saying it he felt dumb.

“What about becoming a teacher of music? Or a songwriter if you think you have a knack for that? There’s plenty of options even if you can’t play an instrument,” he continued, pen still poised in wait to write something else he could cling to hopefully.

“I don’t know, dude. You know, I don’t even think about my future much. I know I want to get the hell out of this place - sorry for the language - and that’s as far as I care about. I kind of think I’ll just...figure the rest out later, maybe something will come together.”

“That’s not very sensible,” he warned, but there was an almost smile on his face. “And...one other thing I’d like to bring up for you...some teachers have expressed concern about some of your behavior. You don’t participate, you don’t really have friends. Have you considered joining a sport or a club?”

Jongin stared for a long minute. All that conversation and somehow he was still stuck on asking if he wanted to join a fucking club. He huffed out a breathless laugh. “Dude...no. These people don’t get it, they don’t get me, and I don’t want to get them. I have the only friend I actually need, and he’s as messed up as I am. So, sorry, but I don’t think my ‘behavior’ is going to change much.”

The counselor let out another sigh, but nodded. “Alright, Jongin. This has been...useful. You may go now, you’re excused,” he said, writing down a few more words on the notepad.

He had a feeling that the man had lost a bit more faith in him than he had ever had. Somehow, he just had a feeling that everything he was hoping for was somehow buried with the words they’d spoken. All he could hope was that this meant he wouldn’t be stuck in another painful conversation with him anytime soon. But based on teachers being concerned for his ‘behavior,’ he wouldn’t be surprised if he was called in still in another few months. 

—

There was something Jongin always loved about going to the city. Partly, it was because he was away from the small little suburb and away from all the people he met who knew and judged him for things they knew nothing about. They were pathetic, and he didn’t need them in his life, anyway. Which is why he was always more than willing to accept being an outcast in his school, because none of them knew anything that mattered, they only settled themselves in with things that everyone else liked.

Jongin couldn’t figure it out, and he didn’t want to. But the city was a couple of hours from the small suburb, and he was only granted permission on the weekends and if he wasn’t tasked with some senseless chore. He was grateful when it took only a bit of begging and whining to get his parents to agree that he and Chanyeol could go into the city that Saturday. It wasn’t like Jongin was a total brat, he just knew what he liked and would sometimes resort to bratty measures in order to get it. 

Chanyeol’s parents were more lenient than his in almost every way. Much the same as they never really cared what went on in their basement, they allowed Chanyeol to basically do as he pleased on his own time. Jongin associated that with Chanyeol being an only child, but that was a theory more than anything backed by evidence.

There was something calming about the city as it came into view, with Chanyeol having borrowed the car to take them. The city was grey and sprawling, with tall buildings that stretched toward the grey clouds like fingers. Nirvana sounded through the speakers of the four-door, and Jongin allowed himself one of the first smiles he’d worn in a while. “Would you move to this city?” he asked, tilting his head slightly as he turned to glance at his friend. 

Chanyeol frowned slightly next to him, but shrugged a shoulder. “This city? I mean...maybe. It’s pretty cool. Maybe it’s a little close, though, you know? Maybe it’s better to move all the way across the country,” he said, deep voice a bit more serious than usual.

Jongin hummed quietly. “Yeah, true. I don’t know...I just want out of that place. If it’s here, I’ll settle. My parents might throw a fit if I wanted to actually move across the country,” he said, though he couldn’t suppress the quiet sigh associated with the statement.

“Mm...why do you care? We should just start our band, and leave. They can’t say shit if we aren’t asking them for help, you know?” he pointed out, a faint half-smile coming to his lips.

Jongin laughed, “Yeah, true,” he agreed. It was something they talked about all the time, if not just to look for ways to get out, but he doubted that there would ever be much truth to the aspirations they always put out there. They would get out, maybe, but he doubted either of them would run away for some band, much less the both of them.

The first place the two of them always stopped when they managed to get to the city was the record store. It was a little offbeat place that had the entrance down the alleyway, and in Jongin’s opinion it just added to the appeal. There was something grimy and grim about the place that made it feel more like home than anywhere else. Sure, there were CD shops and record stores in the malls and in little strip-malls that went up everywhere, but they only sold the kind of thing he hated. They only catered to what MTV tried to push down people’s throats.

What annoyed him more than anything was how frequently students at the school would try and hop a bandwagon only to meet it only halfway. They would say a Nirvana song was cool just because they heard it on the radio, they’d listen to Alice in Chains if it was there because they were told it was okay. But none of them truly listened. 

Jongin stretched as he stepped out of the seat of the car, arms reaching up toward the sky in yearning. He wanted so much, needed so much more from life than the simplicity of malls and the cliques of high school monotony. 

“What are you hunting for today?” came the greeting from the college guy who always seemed to work there named Yifan. He always looked a little angry and a little annoyed, but he’d never done them wrong and always gave them the heads up about the latest CDs they got in stock.

Chanyeol drummed a listless beat on the counter, seemingly considering the question. “Whatever speaks to me, man,” was all he came up with.

But Yifan nodded. “Righteous. Best way to work. New Soundgarden came in,” he offered, gesturing toward a small display.

Jongin smiled at him and headed to the CDs, looking at the cling wrap covers and admiring the sheer beauty that was the record store. Sure, the place sold the regular things along with the rest, but people who came into the record store weren’t looking for that kind of business - so most of their sales came from the more underground sales. He considered, humming softly. It wasn’t as though he was rolling in money, he only got an allowance and the occasional bonus for extra work done around the house. But even so, he saved always so that he could buy CDs. “I’ll think about it,” he offered, placing the album back onto the stands. 

“You’re a choosy one,” Yifan said, offering a brief laugh. 

Sometimes Yifan made Jongin feel a little bit warm inside. He was attractive, and the way he never treated them like they were younger and knew exactly what they wanted, it made him like Yifan a lot more than sometimes he felt like he should. He knew nothing would come of it, but there was no harm in a nice little puppy crush on him. 

He shrugged, and began browsing through the albums. It was a bit of an unspoken ritual of he and Chanyeol. They both loved the record store, but Jongin hated to be disturbed when he was actually considering and appreciating the albums. So they started from opposite ends. Jongin would go to the very back and Chanyeol would start at the very front, and they’d work their way through the store. Sometimes they’d pop in to each other if they found something they really wanted to show, but it was mostly spent in their own respective silences, appreciating the music before them and that Yifan would play from the speakers.

“What is this?” Jongin asked toward him, not recognizing the song.

“My friend, this is a classic. T-Rex,” Yifan stated, holding up an album that Jongin could hardly see.

“Is this glam?” Jongin was still frowning a little. It wasn’t as though Yifan was particularly attached to any one genre, from the conversations they’d had, he was willing to listen to a bit of everything and anything. But still, sometimes he was left a little surprised.

“Well, actually, they were one of the pioneers to glam. It wasn‘t really called that for a while. But with Bowie and T-Rex - and a few others - that is where glam comes from,” he said.

Half the time Yifan seemed a little bit stoned, but he always passed on good information. Jongin hummed quietly to himself, “Thanks...I’ll...consider that,” he offered. He wasn’t much of a glam fan, it was a little too showy and formulaic for his personal tastes, but there was merit to a lot of music that he always tried to consider. At least if it tried to do something, that was all he cared about was when music was trying to go somewhere. Too often it said nothing, meant nothing. And that was all he truly hated.

“Did you get the new zines in?” Chanyeol asked from near the front of the store. Which Jongin probably wouldn’t have heard if it wasn’t for the fact that Chanyeol’s voice was so loud at all times, and demanded attention.

“A couple. There’s a brand new one you guys might like,” Yifan gestured toward the pile of fan-created magazines. They all differed in context, but at the time it was an important thing to make a zine all about anything you wanted, whatever bands you wanted. Some of them were absolute garbage, and Jongin sometimes looked at them only to piss himself off, but others he liked and read as religiously as he could manage to get his hands on a copy. 

Abandoning his search for the moment, he walked up to the counter, heading for the new zine that Yifan had suggested. It wasn’t that often that there were all new zines that actually seemed to catch his attention. Every now and again a new one would appear all over the place, but too often they were inlaid with too many things he couldn’t tolerate.

He hummed quietly, picking up the magazine from the counter. It looked decent, the graphics weren’t obnoxious at least, which was usually his biggest tip-off that it would be bad. He flipped through it a little, eyeing the bands talked about and the articles written. Everything seemed to have a slightly sour undertone, a sardonic edge to every biting word and headline that jumped off the page. He snorted softly as he flipped through, but he shrugged. “Looks cool. Any idea who’s it is?” he asked. Some of the zines were run by people in bands, most he had no idea since he didn’t actually live around the city.

Yifan frowned slightly, taking the magazine from him. “I don’t know what to tell you, man, he was about your age, I guess. As you can see from this, he signs his name as just s, lowercase.”

Jongin glanced at the cursive lowercase letter. That wasn’t really much of a name, but it was similar to how most of the people who did zines signed their names. They all used pen names of some kind - and while some ranged from the ridiculous like Glitter Cube to the more simple initials - they were never easy to identify. “Looks cool, at least. I’m in,” he said.

Chanyeol glanced over his shoulder as Jongin took the magazine back from Yifan. But he didn’t give it more than a second glance, but Chanyeol was never really that much into zines. That was more Jongin’s thing, he liked to devour the words that people with similar minds and ideas had and put out there - Chanyeol preferred his own ideas and to fill the silence with his own thoughts.

That was probably the biggest difference between them. Chanyeol was the talker, the vocal one who told everyone exactly how he felt or what he thought - where Jongin was the silent one who judged everyone in silence and rolled his eyes. They’d been friends since some time in middle school, when Chanyeol had called some popular band stupid and they’d struck up a conversation about music. Music was what fueled almost all of their friendship, and formed the foundation to the both of their lives. It was the glue that kept them together whether they were hanging out in Chanyeol’s basement listening to records or if they were just talking about it.

Zine in hand, Jongin resumed his hunt for the perfect CD that he wanted to spend his money on. It wasn’t really a true trip to the city unless he came home with something to listen to. As much as he enjoyed the zines, the music was still where his heart always remained. He flipped through them, considering with a careful eye what he knew and what looked promising. 

“Is this any good?” he brandished a CD up at Yifan, inquisitive frown written on his brow.

“You wouldn’t like it, man, it’s like...trying to be grunge more than actual grunge, you know?” Yifan said.

“But grunge doesn’t really have one set sound,” Jongin countered, still frowning at the college boy.

“Touché...but the point still stands. Maybe I should say it sounds like they’re trying to sound like what they think grunge should be,” he said, offering a rare sort of smile toward him.

Jongin smiled back before he could really help himself, and glanced down back at the CDs, rifling through them in an attempt to not feel shy or embarrassed. He saw Yifan all the time, it wouldn’t do any good to make an idiot of himself. More than usual, at least. 

What he didn’t expect, however, was the door to the shop to open and reveal a new, albeit familiar, face. The record store was usually pretty quiet, and it was always noticeable when someone else showed up. But Jongin didn’t expect to see anyone from school. Especially when that person was Sehun.

He stared for a second, and their eyes met. “Hey, man, anything you’re looking for?” Yifan greeted, just as he always seemed to.

Sehun glanced away from Jongin, “I was looking for someone…” he said, frowning a little.

Jongin licked his lips, and he could feel his cheeks heat up, he just hoped it wasn’t obvious that he was blushing. He returned to flipping through CDs, but his gaze flicked over to the new student.

“Well, there’s only the few of us right now, you looking for them?” Yifan asked, pushing Sehun a bit since Sehun seemed to not offer more information. Jongin noticed that seemed to be a habit of his, he only said what was necessary.

Sehun’s gaze flitted over to Chanyeol, who was openly staring at him, to Jongin. He wanted to look away, but he felt a little glued to the spot and only stared at him from under his bangs. “Uh...no. My friend wouldn’t be here…” he said, and turned and walked away.

Jongin’s cheeks burned in embarrassment, and his jaw clenched. He was used to people making condescending remarks toward him and Chanyeol, about the way they dressed or the music they liked. It wasn’t anything new, but coming from the beautiful new student somehow made him ache more than the rest of them.

Somewhere in the midst of his thoughts, he could hear Chanyeol ranting and raving angrily about Sehun’s comment. About how it was unfair, how they were surrounded by posers and bogus people, and Yifan just grunting his agreement. Yifan never really seemed particularly bothered by much.

Their trip to the city got cut a bit short after that, the mood soured by Sehun’s comment. For one of the first times, Jongin wondered if maybe he should change. If trying to stick to his bubble of only he and Chanyeol and the music no one else seemed to listen to was really the best way to go.

—

Jongin wasn’t sure what to make of Sehun all in all. He seemed incredibly aloof, and unbothered by everyone and everything. And he seemed to fit in well with the colorful posse at school, including seeming to have a bit of a snobby attitude when he’d walked into the record store. Yet, somehow, that didn’t change the way Jongin felt himself get a little tongue tied whenever he saw him.

In class, he’d managed to work up the nerve to at least say a nonchalant “Hey,” a couple of times. And the world kept spinning, and Jongin’s voice didn’t even crack.

When he got a “hey” in return, he smiled to himself - at least as soon as he was sure he was behind Sehun. Sometimes he couldn’t help but study the elegant line of Sehun’s neck, study the way his dyed hair lay like it was formed into a perfect mess. His gaze lingered over graceful fingers as he wrote his notes, and the broad expanse of his shoulders.

It was by far the most interesting thing about the class, but it made even his usually half-assed attempts at concentration obsolete. 

Jongin’s teeth grazed over his bottom lip, studying Sehun in a cream colored sweater for silent moments, the way he slouched to the right. He’d been graced with a ‘hey,’ and he was riding high on the sound of his husky voice directed to him.

But there was a shift, and suddenly Sehun turned around, looking directly at Jongin, a brow raised slightly.

His breath caught in his throat, embarrassment and a slight hint of fear bubbling in his throat. He offered a hurried, awkward smile before averting his gaze to his notebook, as though something there had suddenly become very interesting. He could feel his cheeks burning, praying that Sehun hadn’t actually noticed him staring all those times.

Another time, Sehun saw Jongin in the hallway, and offered a quiet, “Hey,” and let his gaze rake over Jongin for a moment before he continued on his way.

Jongin was a little too surprised to say much, only uttering a greeting long after Sehun was down the hall. He couldn’t tell what kind of look that had been. Was he judging him? Was he admiring him? His cheeks felt the slightest bit warm again at the thought, and he shook his head. It was his imagination getting the better of him if he thought it was anything near appreciation.

—

Chanyeol noticed, of course, because Chanyeol might not have been a detail-oriented guy, but he did always notice when something important was up, or even if it was just something Jongin thought was important. Whenever he’d catch Jongin staring at Sehun from across the lunchroom or when they were in the hall, he’d roll his eyes or start grinning. And Jongin lived in fear that Chanyeol would say something awful to Sehun. As much as he loved his best friend, playing things cool wasn’t really his strong suit.

However, at lunch on a Wednesday, Chanyeol sat down and smacked his tray down with finality. “Okay, loverboy, spill. How long is this little puppy crush going to last?” he asked, smiling that wide, toothy grin.

Jongin, however, played dumb. “What puppy crush?” he asked. 

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “On Sehun. Come on, Jongin, you’re painfully obvious when you like someone. Remember the camp counselor? You spent the entirety of summer camp mooning after him and trying to get his attention. I remember all the letters you sent me that summer were about ‘Yixing this, Yixing that,’ you’re not very subtle you know,” he said.

“Alright, fair,” he agreed with a shrug. The camp his parents had sent him to was his idea of hell, with too many bugs and everyone trying to get together and sing Kumbaya. Not actually, but they might as well have. Yixing had been his saving grace, with his sweet smile and gentle voice, Jongin couldn’t help but fall a little into crush territory with the boy a few years older than him. And as much as Jongin hated that camp, if Yixing asked him to participate, he’d hardly hesitate. Yixing had been the boy he lost his virginity to.

“Or even Yifan. Whenever we go in there you get all starry eyed and stare at him,” Chanyeol pointed out, in the middle of chewing some sort of mystery pasta. 

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’m obvious. You made your point,” he grumbled, tearing the crust from his sandwich and letting it fall in a neat little pile on his napkin. “I don’t know. It’s dumb. Someone like him wouldn’t like someone like me…” he shrugged. It wasn’t that he was suffering from low self-esteem, just that in even his wildest dreams, he couldn’t see how someone like Sehun would be interested in him.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “Don’t give me that. Sure, he’s a snob, but you have as much chance as anyone. I mean at least if you did a complete transformation,” he said with a loud laugh. 

Jongin tossed a piece of bread crust at him, “Shut up.” Even though he knew Chanyeol was just giving him a hard time, his words spawned an idea.

—

“Can I ask your advice?” he asked, standing in the doorway of his neighbor’s bedroom. He had known Luhan since they were kids, even if they didn’t actually talk much anymore. Luhan was more interested in hanging out at the mall and looked like he walked straight out of the set of <i>Saved by the Bell,</i>  which made him the perfect person to ask.

Luhan frowned, looking over the top of a glossy magazine. “How did you even get in here?” he asked, hand frozen mid-page turn. 

“Your mom let me in, I said I had something to ask you. And I do. Are you busy?” he asked, a little nervous to be standing there asking for help.

“I guess not. What’s up? You haven’t talked to me since last what? The Christmas party?” Luhan asked, still skeptical, but he set aside the magazine. Every year, Luhan’s family threw a party for Christmas that the whole neighborhood went to,

Jongin shrugged and stepped into the room, inviting himself to sit down on his bed. “We don’t really have the same interests.”

Luhan snorted. “Yeah. What’s up, Jongin?”

The questions bubbled on his tongue, wanting to just get it over with and ask. He expected Luhan to start laughing, yet there didn’t really seem to be anyone else he could talk to. “So...ugh, okay, this is...stupid. I need help. It’s about...uh, clothes,” he said, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Clothes?” Luhan glanced rather pointedly between their outfits, with Jongin’s ripped jeans and flannel slung low on his hips compared to Luhan’s acid wash jeans and a bright green t-shirt with a pronounced pink zig-zag pattern. “No offense, Jongin, but I don’t think we have anything in common in the clothing department…”

Jongin snorted softly. “I know. And I like my clothes...but...okay, this is going to sound lame. But there’s someone I like who...is much more like you and less like me, and I want to see if he’ll notice me more if I...dress the part?” the words caused a feeling of regret to pour over him instantly. This was cause for endless ridicule if Luhan felt like using it against him, if he found out just who the someone was. Jongin had worked for years to cultivate this image of being cool and uncaring, and figured none of it would matter since he and Chanyeol would leave after high school to go to the city or something. Or he hoped so, at least. The only  reason he felt moderately okay about asking Luhan’s help was that once upon a time Luhan had been as much of a loser as he had, though more in the way that he wore nerdy glasses and came across so effeminate that people often made fun of him for it. He’d made the transition.

Luhan’s gaze softened a bit, and he even almost smiled. “I understand that. So you want to impress a guy...and I’m the one you’re asking for help?

Jongin shrugged, “Yeah. I mean...you changed a lot, and made it work for you. So I thought you’d probably know...what I should do.”

—

One trip to the mall later - with Jongin dodging behind a couple of clothing racks if he saw anyone he knew - and he was armed with a few new mainstream outfits. He hated them, but Luhan had reassured him over and over again that they looked good. Jongin sighed and flopped down on the couch, almost glad that Chanyeol had a doctor’s appointment so he didn’t have to try and ignore him.

He flipped the channel over to MTV, watching as some New Kids on the Block video came on. He groaned. There were some things he could tolerate, like Depeche Mode’s holdover popularity from a few years ago, and some of the last remaining dregs of hair metal. They mostly had completely meaningless songs and Jongin thought they cared more about their made up faces than their sound, but they had some fresh guitar riffs. But he had low tolerance for pop, there were no redeeming qualities to it. But he supposed that their outfits could speak to him on some level, since this is what he was testing out. He hadn’t been willing to commit any more money since he was already down a number of possible CDs that could have been bought instead. 

This had better be worth it.

—

Jongin quickly found out that it was one thing to try things on in a department store dressing room, and quite another to actually get dressed to go to school for the day. Where everyone would see him. He sighed and dressed quickly, ignoring the mirror. He was in pale-wash jeans that were too baggy, and a striped yellow-and-white shirt. It was so far removed from anything he would usually wear that he imagined he wouldn’t even recognize himself. He got a few strange looks at breakfast, but no one actually said anything, which he was grateful for.

He saw Chanyeol between second and third period, and Chanyeol had to do a comedic double-take. “Uh...Jongin...is it laundry day?” he asked, with a wide, crooked smile that was just a touch unsure.

Jongin licked his lips. It was unavoidable that he’d run into his best friend, but he still hadn’t quite figured out what to say about his sudden new look. “Something like that,” he said with a hint of a smile.

Chanyeol frowned. “It’s weird. I don’t like it,” was all he said before he was off and down the hall.

Jongin sighed softly and gathered up his books. There were another couple of glances in the hallway, and Jongin knew that had he been anyone else, they wouldn’t have even spared his outfit a second thought. But he was one of the only ‘weird kids’ in the school, so people seemed to notice the changes. It wasn’t until history that he saw Sehun. He was already lounging in a seat, looking somehow so catalogue perfect even just sitting in a dingy old classroom. It was infuriating. 

But he walked into the class with his usual confidence, or so he hoped, and noticed in his peripheral vision that Sehun was frowning in his direction. Jongin wasn’t great with crushes, but even he knew he shouldn't be completely obvious about wanting his attention. But at least he had it, he acknowledged as he took his usual seat in the back of the room.

Sehun glanced in his direction a few more times, though it seemed as though it was always hard to tell what he was thinking based off of his expressions. So he pretended not to notice.

—

Jongin ended up getting a few more questioning looks the next day, armed in more pale jeans and an irritatingly patterned sweater. He was met with a few more questions about whether or not he’d finally abandoned ‘those unflattering clothes,’ as one plucky girl had kindly worded it. But Jongin didn’t really have an answer for any of them, so he just shrugged them off or frowned until they got the hint to leave him alone.

“So...look, dude. I let you have a pass yesterday without asking you too many questions, but this is the second day you show up looking like an extra on Blossom. What gives?” Chanyeol asked over lunch, as they sat at their table way down on the end where people could avoid them. 

Jongin snorted, but truthfully he didn’t know what kind of explanation he was going to offer. It had crossed his mind that Chanyeol would be the most complicated part of this whole experiment, given how many conversations they had in Chanyeol’s basement about not conforming to some pop teen society. “It’s...nothing. Just an experiment, you know?”

Chanyeol frowned a little, and took a bite of his rubbery square pizza the cafeteria served. “Okay. What kind of experiment?”

A popular misconception was that Chanyeol wasn’t very smart. They thought that just because he laughed a lot or made jokes in the middle of class, that he was like one of the degenerates who smoked weed out behind the school. Which they weren’t fully wrong, Chanyeol and Jongin had gotten high with the dropouts many times, but Chanyeol was smart. He got good grades even when he didn’t try very hard, he could always find a flaw in someone’s logic. Jongin sometimes underestimated him too. “Just...we are who we are, right? We dress like grunge rockers most of the time, and people react to that image. So I’m...testing to see what happens if I have a different image.” It wasn’t a complete lie. He was hoping for a different reaction, even if he was very much addressing this as everyone, when all he could think was a certain someone. 

“And why is it you care suddenly?” Chanyeol asked, but his words weren’t unkind, just perplexed. 

Jongin licked his lips, his mind racing to find the possibilities. “Because, like, for our band. This is like a free sampling to figuring out our look, you know? Like if...if people respond more to this or something,” he offered. The idea of the band was what always brought them together, even if it was little more than a pipe dream. 

Chanyeol laughed, the sound loud and startling to the dull murmur of noise surrounding them. “Alright, Jongin. You go ahead and experiment. And then maybe you’ll tell me the real reason,” Chanyeol said with a grin and just returned to his pizza.

—

By the third day, most people ignored it altogether. Maybe it helped that the purple t-shirt was a little less patterned and loud than the previous outfits had been, but Jongin didn’t feel much more himself in it than he had any of them. Chanyeol only offered a snort, but left the subject alone, which Jongin was grateful for. 

When he walked into history class, however, and his gaze darted to Sehun - as it usually did - he was a little surprised to see that Sehun was in a wrinkled flannel shirt and ripped jeans, a far cry from his usually put-together appearance. But Jongin only slid far down in his seat, trying not to glance too many times in Sehun’s direction.

—

Jongin stood at the sink washing his hands, the bell had just rang out for lunch and Chanyeol would get impatient soon. When the door opened, he half expected his friend, since no one really liked to use the science hall bathroom since it smelled vaguely of the dissected frogs they did every year (Jongin had opted out and taken a grade hit every time for that). But to his surprise, there was Sehun, who stared at him blankly for a moment.

“Uh, hey,” Jongin said, though it went a little against protocol to talk much in the guys bathroom. 

But Sehun didn’t seem to mind, and he took a few steps closer to Jongin, leaning his hip against the counter. “Hi. What’s with the new look?” he asked, a brow arching just slightly.

Jongin’s mouth felt a little dry, and he cleared his throat. “What do you mean?” They’d spoken the few times in class, and Jongin knew Sehun had seen him staring at least the once. But this felt different from that. He hadn’t gotten more than a few words from him.

A rare hint of a smile played on Sehun’s lips - Jongin had only seen him actually laugh a couple of times. “Don’t play dumb with me. Last week you looked like a missing member of Soundgarden, this week you’re Duran Duran.”

There was silence for a long minute that Jongin wasn’t sure how to fill. He’d wanted Sehun to notice him, but he didn’t expect to be called out like that. “Uh...you know Soundgarden?” was all he could come up with instead. 

Sehun snorted. “Of course I do, I’m not an idiot. Remember when I saw you at that record store? You were holding a zine, my brother is the one who creates it.”

“Oh…” Jongin said, a little surprised. This was the longest he and Sehun had even talked, and he couldn’t help but notice the cute pout of his lips. 

“Jongin? You didn’t answer me. Why the change?”

“...well, why yours? You don’t usually dress like that,” he argued. He was buying for time. He wanted Sehun to notice the change, but he didn’t expect to be confronted about it either. 

“To make a point. Clothes don’t make up who you are, Jongin. You’re you no matter what you dress like, and this past week you’ve just looked uncomfortable and uneasy. I liked the old look. It made you confident,” Sehun said, taking a step closer to him.

Jongin licked his lips. “You did? I...wanted to change. Just to see…” he paused. What was the point in doing this if he wasn’t going to be honest about the reasons in the first place? He shook his head, “I wanted you to notice me. And I know that sounds completely bogus, but...I thought you might notice me more.” Letting the words out caused a lump to form in his throat, embarrassed at actually confessing that he desired Sehun’s attention.

Sehun looked surprised for a second. “You changed because you wanted me to notice you. I noticed you the first day I came, Jongin. You’re gorgeous, how could I not notice you?”

There was a moment of absolute quiet where neither of them moved or said anything, just stared at each other. Jongin’s mind was racing at the words that came from Sehun’s lips,and  his heart felt like it might beat out of his chest. Sehun’s teeth grazed along his bottom lip, looking almost a bit nervous. And Jongin stepped forward, stepping into Sehun’s space. They stared at one another for a long moment, not paying attention to that vague chemically smell or the urinals that stood just a few steps away. 

Sehun leaned in, pressing a kiss to Jongin’s mouth. It was just a moment, and he pulled away again as though waiting to make sure it was okay. Every nerve in Jongin’s body was on fire, burning with the touch. Jongin’s lips curved in a small smile, and he reached out to wrap an arm around Sehun’s waist, pulling him close and pressing in for another kiss. 

This one was longer, their lips moving slowly against each other and eyes slipping closed. Sehun’s tongue snaked across Jongin’s bottom lip, causing a quiet gasp to slip out from Jongin’s mouth, and he only leaned in further. Sehun’s tongue explores his mouth almost hesitantly, and Jongin was grateful for standing near the sinks since his knees felt like jelly.

The door slammed open, and Jongin and Sehun jumped apart in shock. “Where the fu-“ the words died on Chanyeol’s lips as he took in the sight before him.

Jongin had known that Chanyeol would get impatient and come seek him eventually, and he should have realized that possibility. But he hadn’t even considered the time when he kissed Sehun.

Chanyeol laughed, a loud, deep sound that bounced off the walls of the bathroom. “Alright, you two, if you want to make out in the dead frog bathroom, be my guest. There’s probably better places though,” was all he said before he turned and walked back out. 

Sehun let out an almost embarrassed chuckle, and shrugged. “Whoops?”

Jongin laughed and just kissed him again.

—

The next couple of weeks, Sehun and Jongin began spending as much time together as they possibly could. Jongin returned to his usual clothes, which made them both feel better. Despite Sehun’s easy in with the in-crowd, he chose to spend his lunches with Jongin and Chanyeol, in which Jongin would often hold Sehun’s hand under the table and Sehun would lean against his shoulder. Chanyeol was a better sport about it than Jongin predicted he would be, just rolling his eyes every now and again but mostly leaving their affection without comment.

One lunch period, Chanyeol affixed Sehun with a frown, staring at him until Sehun squirmed. “Did I do something?” he asked, squeezing Jongin’s hand under the table.

“I’m not sure yet,” Chanyeol said. 

It was Jongin’s turn to frown. “‘Yeol. Don’t play hardass suddenly, what’s up?”

“Sehun, do you remember a few weeks ago? Weekend, in the city, a record store. We were there, you popped in looking for someone. I didn’t like your attitude,” he said simply. 

Chanyeol didn’t really forget a lot of things that he deemed important, whatever those may be, so even if it had been a while since that encounter, Jongin wasn’t surprised that he brought it up so suddenly. And partly, he couldn’t deny being a little curious himself.

“Mm...yeah, I remember that. What about my attitude did you dislike?” Sehun asked. 

Jongin had learned in their time of getting to know one another better that Sehun could usually contain his composure in most environments. But he’d also learned that Sehun tended to fidget in subtle ways when he got a little nervous, like right then he was squeezing Jongin’s hand rhythmically. He didn’t know why he was nervous, exactly, but he just ran his thumb over his knuckles to help reassure him.

Chanyeol pursed his lips a little, as though considering. “You had an attitude like you were better than being in some back alley record store. I don’t like that,” he said, his tone surprisingly upbeat. 

“Oh. Why? I just said my friend wouldn’t be there.”

Jongin’s brow raised slightly. He didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but it seemed a little more complicated than that.

“Maybe. But it was the way you said it. Do you have a problem with us? I mean, I know you’re very accepting of Jongin - at least his tongue down your throat - but in general? Do you think you’re better than us?” Chanyeol asked, still surprisingly calm and pleasant sounding considering the accusations he was tossing at Sehun. 

Jongin squeezed Sehun’s hand. “Chanyeol...come on.”

Sehun shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I understand what you mean. And you’re right. I am a snobby little prick most of the time. But I don’t have anything against you,” he shrugged. But apparently judging by the skeptical looks he received, he let out a sigh. “I mentioned my brother makes the zine you guys were looking at, right?”

Chanyeol glanced to Jongin, this was news to him. And Jongin realized he’d forgotten to mention that at any point. So he shrugged. 

“Well, anyway...that’s kind of a lie. He does part of it...I do the other part. In a way...like, I don’t know, I like the kind of stuff you guys are into, I just...don’t feel like I can be as confident as either of you about it,” he admitted, nibbling his bottom lip lightly.

Jongin detached his hand from Sehun’s and put his arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay. I understand that. It takes time. Chanyeol and I still get shit for it sometimes, so I don’t blame you. But you know you can be yourself with me, with us, right?” he asked. 

Sehun smiled and leaned into Jongin. “Thank you, Jongin. That means a lot,” he said, tone soft and gentle.

Chanyeol grunted, “Fine. He can stay,” and and continued to eat his sandwich.

—

It was Saturday when Jongin pulled Sehun along to Chanyeol’s house. Chanyeol frowned a little at Sehun’s presence. “Oh, hey, Sehun. I didn’t know you were coming too,” he said, giving Jongin a questioning look.

But he didn’t protest as they all went down to the basement, and Jongin was once again at home. Nirvana played from the speakers, and Jongin took his usual place on the worn couch. Sehun sat beside him, looking a little more uneasy. “Uh...sorry, Chanyeol, I thought Jongin would have at least mentioned he was thinking of bringing me here. He just told me he wanted to show me his favorite place, so...” he shrugged. 

Chanyeol’s eyebrows raised and he smiled a bit, but it wasn’t his usual megawatt smile. “Yeah, he’s a loser with no sense,” he joked, and they all laughed. 

“Chanyeol? Want to talk for a sec?” Jongin asked, already getting up off the couch. 

“Oh, come on, I call you a loser all the time,” he teased, but walked up the stairs with Jongin anyway.

“You okay? Do you...dislike him?” Jongin asked, concerned and a little confused.

“He’s why you did that ‘experiment’ isn’t he?” Chanyeol asked instead of answering right away. 

Jongin remembered that he really shouldn’t question his best friend’s memory, no matter how high he was. He could feel a faint warmth tint his cheeks, and he shrugged. “I...yeah. I wanted to see if that might make him like me...I know, you can rag on me all you want for that,” he said, unable to look his best friend in the eye.

But Chanyeol rested a heavy hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Jongin. I get it. I still think you’re dumb and you didn’t need to turn into Zack Morris, but I guess I’m glad that it worked out for you two dweebs,” he said, his usual sparkling smile returning to his face.

“Thanks, ‘Yeol,” he said, returning the smile with his own.

“Are you two done jerking each other off?” Sehun asked as they returned back downstairs, flipping through some of Chanyeol’s CDs.

Jongin laughed and swatted his hip, “Shut up. You know Chanyeol and I are gonna start a band someday?”

Chanyeol shook his head, plopping down on the cement floor and leafed through another stack of CDs.

“Oh, yeah? Can I be your groupie?” Sehun asked with a smile.

Leaning in, Jongin pressed a soft kiss to Sehun’s lips. “Nope, you can come with us and be my personal handler,” he teased, voice all soft and low.

Sehun kissed him again, lips lingering against his for a few moments longer. “I can handle you well.”

“Alright, listen. I can handle you both being down here, I can handle you two playing footsie under the table at lunch, what I won’t handle is you two pawing each other in front of Kurt Cobain,” Chanyeol frowned up at them.

Jongin laughed. “Sorry, I’ll try my best to behave,” he promised.

—

Sehun lead Jongin through the door of his house, calling out a quick, “Anyone home?” and waiting to confirm the lack of response before pulling Jongin up the stairs and down the hallway to his room. There might not have been a need to hurry right yet, since no one was home, but Sehun had warned Jongin that he couldn’t be completely positive how long they’d have. His parents weren’t due back for another two hours at least, but Sehun reflected that his father’s temper could sometimes cause them to leave early.

But Jongin would take any opportunity to be alone with Sehun he could get. It had been a few weeks since that fateful day in the bathroom, and they hadn’t been able to share more than a few kisses every now and again when no one was looking, or a longer chance to make out when Chanyeol was gracious enough to give them a little space in the basement. And there had been a couple of occasions when they managed to jerk each other off, but they wanted so much more.

Jongin glanced around at Sehun’s room, books piled high on the desk and clothes strewn over the chair, and he couldn’t help but smile a little. It smelled like him, and he could see a couple of pages from his brother’s zine laying around. But it wasn’t long before Sehun pulled Jongin’s attention away from observation, yanking him onto the bed with him and immediately pulling him into a heated kiss.

Softly, Jongin groaned, hands finding purchase on Sehun’s hips as he kissed him back, a little needy and desperate. But Sehun was just as needy, his tongue slipping into Jongin’s mouth with a low moan. Jongin sighed into the kiss, running his tongue against Sehun’s as a hand groped for his ass.

“Baby? Can we…?” Sehun asked, voice breathy, brushing Jongin’s hair away from his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Jongin kissed him again, this time soft and gentle, a sharp contrast to the heated way they’d just been.

“Yeah. I want you. I don’t want to wait,” Sehun said, a hint of a smile on his lips. They hadn’t really discussed sex that much, just that neither of them were virgins and how many people they’d been with before - Jongin one and Sehun two. 

It didn’t take much more encouragement or impassioned kisses to spurn them both into action, clothes being taken off and tossed aside with only a few mishaps when Jongin got caught in his shirt and Sehun tripped trying to take off his pants. But they were both able to laugh, and Jongin was left to admire the expanse of Sehun’s pale flesh, the very sight making him burn with desire. 

Sehun slipped into his closet for a minute before he returned with the condom and a small bottle of lube he’d apparently stashed far away from the prying eyes of his parents. In the back of his mind, Jongin wondered if Sehun was brave enough to actually purchase them himself, because the one time Jongin was supposed to he’d gotten too shy and chickened out at the last minute.

“Do you want to...you know, what position do you want to do?” Sehun asked, crawling back onto the bed with Jongin. His fingers traced nameless patterns against the skin of his stomach, and Jongin burned every time Sehun touched him.

“Um...I’ve only been on top,” he said, though of course that didn’t really say much since he wasn’t exactly the most experienced.

Sehun smiled a little. “Then I should initiate you,” he declared, and kissed him again. This kiss was slow, and insistent, with Sehun moving to position himself between Jongin’s legs as they kissed, hands trailing over his body.

Jongin moaned into the kiss, fingers threading through Sehun’s hair. He’d been a little uneasy at the prospect of being on bottom in his previous time, but he didn’t feel the same amount of trepidation with Sehun. There was something eternally calming about his presence, at least when Jongin wasn’t nervous about making a fool of himself in front of him.

Sehun slicked up his fingers with lube, and hooked Jongin’s leg onto his shoulder as he traced the cleft of his ass with cool fingers, teasing until Jongin began to squirm underneath him. Sehun pressed a kiss against Jongin’s chin, and slowly began to insert a finger inside of him. “Just relax,” he coaxed, voice soft and sweet against his skin.

It wasn’t a painful feeling having Sehun’s finger inside of him, and Jongin had fingered himself on more than a few occasions, so he took a breath and let his eyes slip closed. Sehun twisted the finger inside of him, thrusting and exploring his inner walls, taking his time with him. And it wasn’t long before another digit began to press inside to join the first, and Jongin bit his lip. Sehun pressed kisses along his body as he slowly slid both fingers inside of him, tongue laving over nipples and down his stomach and over his hip bones. Jongin moaned as the fingers explored inside of him, his mind intoxicated with thoughts of Sehun and the sensations of his fingers inside him, and his mouth pressing hot kisses over his skin.

As Sehun pressed a third finger to his entrance, he suddenly took Jongin’s cock into his mouth. Jongin let out a loud groan and bit down on a knuckle, hips jerking at the sudden sensation of Sehun’s warm lips engulfing him. Sehun bobbed along his dick, tongue pressing against him in a way that was almost dizzying combined with the fingers that continued to thrust inside of him.

Jongin gasped softly, “Sehun…” he warned, unable to really say more than that because he kept feeling so breathless and overcome with the pleasure coursing through him. 

But Sehun pulled his mouth off of his cock, and let his fingers slip out with a lewd sound, not seeming to need more words from Jongin to understand what he was trying to say. Jongin whined quietly in the back of his throat at the loss of all stimulation, but Sehun only offered a hint of a smile, and reached for the condom on the bed. Jongin watched with half-closed eyes as Sehun rolled the condom down over his cock, arousal burning deep inside him at the sight.

After Sehun had slicked his length up with lube, he settled between Jongin’s thighs, hiking Jongin’s legs over his hips. Jongin reached up and pulled Sehun to him for another kiss, sucking softly on his bottom lip. Sehun groaned softly, and positioned himself to slowly begin pushing inside Jongin.

Sehun pressed kisses against his lips and jawline as he slowly filled him up, and Jongin’s eyes clenched shut, focusing on the desire burning inside him and the way Sehun’s lips felt against him. Sehun stilled when he filled him completely, and Jongin was left gasping at the sensation. There was a dull ache low in his spine, but it wasn’t as painful as he’d almost expected it might be. He drew Sehun into slow, languid kisses, distracting himself from the sensations and focusing on the way Sehun’s tongue presses against his own, on the way Sehun’s touch caressed over his hips. 

After moments of stillness, Jongin finally let out a soft, “Okay.” And Sehun slowly began to pull out and thrust back inside of him, beginning a slow, steady pace deep inside him. Jongin moaned softly, and he slowly began to relax into the sensation of Sehun rocking into him. He kept pressing kisses against Sehun’s lips and jaw, tracing down along his neck and over his sharp collarbones as Sehun fucked him. 

Sehun uttered a steady stream of low groans, eyes closed in concentration. Jongin let his hands trace over his face, caressing his cheeks and biting down on his bottom lip as he studied his boyfriend’s expression of pleasure. There was something about the fact that he was the one giving Sehun this pleasure, that he was the one pulling these sounds from him, that went straight to his cock. Sehun wrapped a hand around Jongin’s thigh, pushing it closer to his chest, and the angle changed, hips snapping into him harsher than before. 

Loud moans spilled from Jongin’s lips, arching into the sensation of Sehun’s thick cock filling him over and over. His arms wrapped around Sehun’s chest, pulling him flush against him and pressing hot, open mouthed kisses against his neck. As Sehun’s pace quickened again, sending ripples of delicious pleasure coursing through Jongin’s body, nails drug along his back, scratching into pale skin. Sehun let out a guttural sort of sound, and he nipped at Jongin’s bottom lip. 

Jongin moaned Sehun’s name over and over again, and the sensation of Sehun fucking him combined with the way his cock was getting friction from their bodies rubbing together was getting to be too much. He arched into Sehun, savoring the way his cock fucked him open so beautifully, and reaches between their bodies to wrap his fingers around his dick. It only took a couple of rugs before he stilled, body tensing and his fingers digging into Sehun’s back as pleasure washed over him.

It took him a minute to focus again on Sehun, who was pressing soft kisses against his skin. His hips had stilled completely, but Jongin could feel how hard he still was inside of him. “Baby...let me help you,” he said softly, and Sehun kissed him again. 

Carefully, Sehun pulled out of Jongin, and Jongin let out a soft whine at the sensation of loss. But looking at Sehun’s cock caused another stirring in his groin, and he pushed Sehun to lay back on the bed, Jongin moving to sprawl on his lap. He carefully removed the condom, tossing it into a trash bin near his bed, and turned his attention back to Sehun. He softly kissed the head, and Sehun groaned low in the back of his throat. He could tell he was close, so Jongin swiftly took Sehun into his mouth, taking in his cock until it brushed the back of his throat.

Sehun’s fingers came to rest in his hair, coursing through the dark locks as Jongin began a quick pace of bobbing along his dick. Jongin could feel arousal already burning again in the pit of his stomach, listening to the sounds of Sehun moaning and gasping at the sensations engulfing him. Jongin moaned around his cock, and Sehun whines, fingers tightening. 

Jongin hollowed his cheeks, and began to move more quickly, tasting the salt of sweat and precum on his tongue. Sehun’s fingers pulled  harshly on his hair, hips bucking up into Jongin’s mouth. Jongin moaned as Sehun’s release filled his mouth, tasting what was distinctly Sehun, and he pulled off, swallowing his come. 

Sehun was only able to catch his breath for a minute before Jongin kissed him softly. He nuzzled into his cheek and traced his face, “That was amazing,” he said softly. 

Sehun smiled and kissed him, “You’re amazing,” he teased. Only they both heard a sound that was a bit like metal on metal all at once, and Sehun cursed. “Oh shit, that’s my parents. Babe, I’m sorry, you gotta scram,” he said, a laugh and an edge of panic battling in his tone. 

Jongin laughed and kissed him one last time. “Don’t worry, I’m good at escaping.”

—

The three of them sat lounging in Chanyeol’s basement, listening to the sounds of Mother Love Bone, when Jongin groaned. “So tomorrow the guidance counselor is asking to meet with my parents. He’s worried I’m y’know ‘not taking my future seriously’ and all that shit...so I’m screwed,” he complained, head falling back to hit the back of the couch. 

Sehun snorted, and flicked him between the eyes, “That’s what happens when you just say you’re going to start a band, dummy,” he chastised. 

Chanyeol laughed, “How long you gonna be grounded for?”

Jongin groaned. “You’re both horrible people. I don’t know. But we really need to start that band.”

“Chanyeol is on guitar, right? And you’re singing even though you can’t sing?” Sehun asked. 

“Neither can Kurt Cobain,” Jongin retorted immediately. 

“Touché. I’ve upgraded myself from personal handler to journalist,” Sehun announced. 

Sehun was still doing the zine, and Jongin had even contributed an article. Yifan knew, and he’d smiled and said, “you’ll be going places in no time, kids.”

Jongin snorted, “Maybe you should learn to play the drums.”

“Man, we're going to be the least talented band out there,” Chanyeol shook his head. 

Jongin laughed, “Probably. But somehow I’m okay with that as long as I have you two.”

Chanyeol and Sehun both rolled their eyes at this one, but Jongin just smiled. It maybe wasn’t perfect, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> listen this isn’t my favorite fic at all lmao but this fest is wonderful.
> 
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/kumjongin). [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/kumjongin).


End file.
